Social media refers to electronic interactions among people, or entities, which interact by creating, sharing, and exchanging content in virtual communities and networks. Content in user interactions may include text, such as comments, media, or links to media, such as photographs, videos, and web site URLs. Social media employ mobile and web-based technologies creating interactive platforms where individuals and communities create, share, discuss, and modify user-generated content.
Examples of different types of social media include collaborative projects such as Wikipedia, blogs such as Blogger, social networking sites such as Facebook, content communities such as YouTube, and virtual worlds such as Second Life.
While social media outlets provide tools for searching their content, they do not provide tools that correlate the interaction of an entity with social media content, and the influence of that entity. Therefore there is a need in the industry to address these shortcomings.